Title:
The Map and the Scissors
Author:
Amit Majmudar
Publisher: HarperCollins In
Genre:
Historical Fiction
ISBN:
978-9354894640
Paperback:
344
‘Because
nothing is purely Hindu or purely Muslim in India. Nothing is pure anywhere,
least of all Gujarati, with its Sanskrit and Farsi and Arabic and English loan
words – its own words – all tumbling into meaning. Gujarati is a merchant’s
linguistic coin collection from around the world, a farmer’s language hardy
with lexical weeds.’
The Maps and the Scissors by Amit Majmudar, is a historical fiction that portrays the life of two core pillars of Indian politics during the times of late British Raj. In his book, author captures the existence of Gandhi and Jinnah – two lawyers, dreams a same future for our country in discordant ways. The premise is not restricted to their political perceptions only, but leads to personal lives as well.
Among many political movements, one can get a clear reflection of differences originated between Congress and Muslim League. A demand for separate country, and an enigmatic emotion on the thought of two-nation theory. I found some familiar characters as Jawahar Lal Nehru, Sardar Pater, Liaquat Ali Khan, Kasturba, Fatima and many more.
‘It is not the first time or the last that he will go to jail. At first, Kasturba was scared for him, but his letters came back curiously untroubled. The prison was not pleasant, but the South Africans whites, no matter how much they hated him, feared their subjugated dark races too much to torture to kill him. They did not dare find out what tens of thousands of non-violent Indians would do if the one man who preached non-violence died by violence.’
These characters strengthen the storyline that is woven from the balanced knowledge of historical incidents. Adding to this, the novel depicts how they deal with odds in their private lives. It is the most fascinated part of the book, ‘The name Gandhiji is a drug. They are already beyond any sense of their own vulnerability. When the rifles pop a few times, the reports are barely audible against so many voices. No one falls. They really are invulnerable. The name really is a talisman, protecting them against all threats, justifying all actions, cleansing all guilt.’
Then, there is a moment, when Jawahar Lal Nehru looks troubled, and shares the conflicted thoughts running in his heart, — ‘I’m ashamed that it bears my last name. its terms ensure us more sluggishness from the British. They’ll never leave, at this rate. And even worse, it wants Dominion’s status for India. Do we realize “Dominion” comes from the word for “Lordship”? why should the British be our lords, for even a second after we gain independence? Is that our goal?
Despite well-researched facts, at some places, one might not agree with author’s perception towards particular leaders, but it is writer's imagination and perspective that keeps evolving. There is a word called ‘Creative Freedom’ and reader needs to respect that.
Above
everything else, I loved the prose style – such visual writing. I read a book around
political figures in well-crafted passages, it is more like a dream for a reader
who is interested in literature regarding to partition and late colonial period.
Here,
I’m sharing an excerpt from the book to get an idea about the book:
‘His lips are moving now. ‘Sare Jahan se achcha Hindostan hamara..’ Better than all the world, this Hindustan of ours...
What
a lovely tune, thinks Gandhi. Someday they will ask me what our national anthem
should be, and I may well choose this song. When was it written? 1904? Just a
year before the British tried to divide us all by diving Bengal, that failed
colonial experiment: riots in the street, everyone at each other’s throats.
Many
will expect Tagore to compose something, or Sarojini, but they would do it in
Bangla. This song is in Hindustani, and almost everyone in India understands a
little Hindustani.’
Synopsis:
Two intense, inflexible
personalities duel over a question that will decide the fate of millions: one
nation-or two?
Jinnah, the consummate, ruthlessly analytical gentleman in a tailored suit,
starts out skeptical of those who come to his door proposing a 'Land of the
Pure', but ends up founding exactly such a country. Gandhi, the religious
visionary in homespun khadi, experiments with Truth in his quest for one
India-only to witness, in anguish, the bloody birth of two nations.
The Map and the Scissors is a novel about the epic origin story of modern South
Asia, brought to life by two London-educated lawyers, mirror-image rivals who
dreamt the same.
About the Author
Amit Majmudar is of five critically acclaimed novels,
four collections of award-winning , a translation of the Bhagavad Gita with ,
as well as a forthcoming memoir and a three-volume retelling of the
Mahabharata. The former Poet Laureate of Ohio as well as a diagnostic and
nuclear radiologist, he lives in Westerville, Ohio, with his wife and three.
Reach him at: Twitter | Amazon
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